up for his opponents in Hamilton East, tiredness and disappointment took a greater hold on his 70-year-old features.

The voters didn't just kick Mr. Gilbert Darrell out of the House of Assembly after years of representation. They stomped over NLP candidates wherever they stood, leaving the party in worse shape than at any time in its eight-year history.

With no MPs and massive cuts in its previous support, the tiny organisation now seems unlikely to recover.

And with a political landscape seemingly even more polarised than before, there does not seem to be a place in Bermuda for a third grouping.

A handful of party members were present to welcome their dejected leader back to his Reid Street HQ last night.

Despite their claps, the man they fondly call "whatsisname'', "boss'' or "sweetheart'' had difficulty raising a smile.

"At the moment it doesn't seem possible that the party will survive,'' he said.

"But things will change again dramatically in the next four years. "I think we have the will and the wherewithal to keep together on a low key.'' The NLP would still exist "in some shape or form'', he said. "All of this we will have to discuss.'' As to whether he would now retire from politics, Mr. Darrell seemed unsure.

"Well, I'm 70-years-old,'' said the man who co-founded the party after being expelled from the PLP.

He believed his age was used against him by his political opponents. And he was shocked by his misreading of the electorate. Maybe he had taken Bermudian politeness for solid support, he felt.

"It's funny how you get such good vibes, and then you get the result. "I expected at the end to make it, because I worked really hard. I had a feeling I would slip in.

"I knew it was going to be tough but I didn't expect it to be that tough.'' He had expected his party to get three MPs out of eight candidates. Instead, even main hopeful Mr. Graeme Outerbridge saw his previous popularity slump.

"We were naive in thinking we would make some progress. "I think our mistake was that we didn't believe Bermudians would go for the kind of high-pressure tactics and fussing that went on.'' Even if the party had the money, he said, it would not have joined in the slugfest with the other parties.

"I think we played too low a key. It just goes to show that people are susceptible to ballyhoo or hype. We were being squeezed.'' Mr. Darrell also blamed the party's "breathtaking'' humiliation on gloomy Royal Gazette portrayals and the Premier's message not to vote NLP.

"We have to think about what we're going to do, because we do have some good people. But let's take our time on that.'' Party chairman Mr. Geoff Parker, like other NLP-ers, spoke about voters deserting the party like a "flock of birds'', suddenly taking flight.

He believed headlined controversy about election "emancipation'' had helped polarise opinion.

The NLP had not yet thought about its future, he said. "We want to review the whole situation.

"We still believe that we have got a moderate message. We still want to seek the truth about the things that need to be discussed.

"We've still got a part to play in the process, albeit a small one.'' He said Mr. Darrell could retire. But he added: "He will always be the leader because he's got the charisma and the respect of everybody else.

"We were swept aside. It was a power-play between the two major parties and there wasn't any room for anyone in the middle.'' With more entrenched political positions, the UBP would have to "listen to its moderates'' to win the next election.

Smith's South candidate Mr. Outerbridge saw his vote, and that of his colleagues, "decimated''.

He said: "It seems to be the death of an idea. It says there may be no middle ground in this Country.'' He felt economic insecurity over the Base, even troubling news from Moscow, could have helped "crystallise'' the two-party political formation.

The lessons to be learned were that greater organisational strength was needed, and that idealism was not enough.

"I think we're going to have a very serious think about the direction we're going to take. But I don't feel some deep depression.

"We didn't let Bermuda down. Bermuda let us down. They didn't keep their options open.'' OCTOBER 1993 ELECTION